Compiled for the LCLD Board of Directors every Wednesday, this digest is designed to brief you on the latest headlines about LCLD Members and organizations, as well as thought-provoking articles on diversity in the legal profession, talent development, mentoring, and leadership. Past issues of the Digest are also archived on the LCLD web site.

If you have questions about the Digest, or articles you'd like to share, please email Caitlin Puffenberger at cpuffenberger@lcldnet.com. 

This week, in news related to diversity and inclusion...

1. Roderick Palmore Returns to Dentons

Dentons US, 7/22/15

LCLD Founder and Chairman Emeritus Rick Palmore is now Senior Counsel at Dentons US in Chicago, where he will focus on risk management and governance issues. “He is a legend in the legal community, and living proof of the tremendous impact one person can have on an entire industry,” said Steven Velkei, Chair of Dentons’ US Diversity Committee. “In private practice and as a general counsel, he was a trailblazer in setting guidelines for how corporations could gauge their own staffing and evaluate their outside counsel to affect real change in the hiring and retention of lawyers of color…” 

2. Carlton Fields Jorden Burt is Top Law Firm in U.S. in 2016 Vault Law Firm Diversity Rankings

Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, 7/22/15

LCLD Member firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt has been chosen as the top law firm in the country by the Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms for “Overall Diversity,” “Diversity for Women,” “Diversity for Minorities,” “Diversity for LGBT,” and “Diversity for Disabilities.” This is the sixth time in seven years that Vault named Carlton Fields Jorden Burt the best firm in the country for overall diversity and diversity for women and minorities. No other law firm has matched this record. "It is the right thing to do, we enjoy the professional fulfillment that comes from having colleagues with different perspectives and backgrounds, and we serve our clients more effectively because of this," said Gary Sasso, LCLD Board Member, and President and CEO of the firm. 

3. Female Lawyers Less Likely to Be First Chair, Study Finds

The Legal Intelligencer, 7/14/15

While women make up at least 36 percent of the legal profession, they comprise only 24 percent of first-chair roles in civil cases, according to a recent study co-led by LCLD Member Stephanie Scharf. An even lower percentage of women serve as lead counsel in class action, contract, and tort cases. This is often the result of implicit bias, as the senior lawyers who choose their co-counsel are overwhelmingly male. 

4. EEOC Says That Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation Violates Title VII

The National Law Review, 7/21/15

Until recently, in the absence of a federal law that expressly protected employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation, employees who married their same-sex partners could still be subjected to workplace discrimination without remedy. On July 15, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned under Title VII – giving the EEOC broad authority to investigate, conciliate, and litigate on behalf of LGBT individuals. 

5. 7 Creative Ideas to Kickstart Collaborative Legal Conversations

Business of Law Blog, 7/20/15

In-house counsel and law firm partners often struggle to collaborate with one another – but their wish lists and laments are often the same. A management consultant offers several strategies for better collaboration, which can be spearheaded by either party, including:

• Hard hat tours to give both in-house and outside counsel a better understanding of the business
• Joint process improvement and project management workshops
• Collaboration on the design of RFPs to demystify the process of outside counsel selection 

6. Survey: Less Than Half of Women of Color Say They Have a Fair Chance to Advance at Work

Fortune, 7/17/15

Research from Working Mother Research Institute has some discouraging findings on the engagement and advancement of women of color in the workplace:

• Less than half of women of color surveyed said they were satisfied with their ability to move to a better position at their companies.
• Only 29 percent said they would definitely stay with their current company for the next three years.
• Fifty-four percent of African-American women and 36 percent of Asian women said race, not talent, was the first thing people noticed about them when they walked into the room.